Murderer Pardoned

During the year of 1995, a farmer in Charlestown, Missouri named Leslie Owen Collier had a coyote issue. The wild turkeys that inhabited the area were being hunted by the coyotes in the area. Collier's solution was to set out pesticide-filled hamburger meat patties for the coyotes to eat. His plan was successful, as he killed seven coyotes. The consequences though outweighed the rewards in this case. The dead coyote carcasses were eaten by bald eagles and other birds as well, who in turn were poisoned and died. In total, three bald eagles lay dead.
As the United States National Bird, the bald eagle is protected against being hunted. Collier's actoins were considered to be illegal. After pleading guilty, he did not go to jail, but was put on probation for two years and was ordered to give up his weapons (which was devestating to the long time hunter). The worst part was that he was now considered a convicted felon.
Even worse was Collier's interactions with others in the community. "For a while, you think people kind of look at you different," Collier said to the Chicago Sun Times. But many in Collier's community felt that the punishment was too severe for the actions. One of his supporters was state representative Lanie Black. Black and other Collier supporters wrote many letters asking for a pardon. Several months ago, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway responded, asking for the full story. On November 24, 2008, Collier was officially pardoned by President Bush. He was one of only 171 pardons (14 that day) granted by Bush, the fewest of any president that served two terms that recently served. After hearing of the pardoning, Collier "almost broke into tears." He was extatic to hear he was forgiven for a mistake he will surely never make again.

To me, it was illogical that Collier was ever even convicted of anyting. It was negligent, that's true. But honestly, how could he predict the damage that he caused? It was clear that his intentions were different than his results and the fact that he was convicted was very strange. Another strange thing was the pardonees that Bush chose. Generally harder on environmental criminals, Bush is usually hostile towards the environmental situations. He also pardoned a felon convicted of dumping hazardous materials. This man also only received prohibation, which is generally considered a light penalty for a president to pardon. I don't necessarily agree with the label that was placed on the pardoned convicts. For them, their lives have been restored for mistakes that I am sure they will never make again. To me, these were necessary pardons that made guilty-consciences feel better.